TENNIS ROUNDUP : Fernandez to Play Seles in Houston Final

Second-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez broke Linda Harvey-Wild’s serve seven times for a 6-0, 6-3 victory in the semifinals of the Virginia Slims of Houston tournament Saturday.

Top-seeded Monica Seles of Yugoslavia, looking for her third singles title of the year, won the first 10 games en route to a 6-0, 6-2 victory in 71 minutes over sixth-seeded Sandra Cecchini of Italy in the other semifinal match.

The match against Fernandez was Harvey-Wild’s ninth of the tournament. She played five doubles matches, including qualifying rounds, and four singles matches.

“She plays the crucial points so well, but then most of the top 10 players do, that’s why they are top 10,” Harvey-Wild said of Fernandez. “I might have been a little tired, but it was mentally tired more than physically.”

Fernandez played only her second singles match of the tournament. She drew a first-round bye and won her second match by forfeit.

Martin Jaite of Argentina and Goran Prpic of Yugoslavia won semifinal matches in the Nice (France) Open to set up another final between unseeded players.

Jaite came from behind to beat sixth-seeded Karol Novacek of Czechoslovakia, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). Novacek was the last seeded player in the tournament.

Prpic routed French wild-card entry Cedric Pioline, 6-1, 6-3.

Second-seeded Naoko Sawamatsu of Japan and Yayuk Bazuki of Indonesia won semifinal matches in a women’s tournament in Bangkok.

Sawamatsu breezed past American Marianne Werdel, 6-1, 6-3, and Bazuki beat Rika Hiraki of Japan, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.